tried to get about these things they were making up. 11 days into the war, he was asked by abc if he was surprised american forces hadn't found any weapons of mass destruction. his response, not at all. we know where they are. they are in the area around tikrit and baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat, yes, north, south, east and west somewhat. we know exactly where they are. donald rumsfeld is running from that history, having said things like that, made claims like that, not in passing, but as a case to the american people why we had to wage this war. donald rumsfeld has been running from what he did for years now. in 2006 while the war was at its height, a 27 year veteran of the cia confronted him about the north, south, east, west claim at a public forum. >> it appears that there were not weapons of mass destruction there.

>> you said you knew where they were. >> i did not. i said i knew where suspect sites were. >> you said you knew where they were, near tikrit, near baghdad, and north, south, east, west of there. those of your words. >> my words were that -- no, no, no, wait a minute, let him stay one second. >> this is america, huh? go ahead. >> you're getting plenty of play, sir. >> i'd just like an honest answer. >> i'm giving it to you. >> these guys have been trying to run away from what they did since they did it. it is a revisionist project to make us think they didn't screw up. we should look at them as the experts in foreign policy and military intervention. how long do you have to be and on how big a scale before we stop listening. i would like to hear about acid reflux, or home remedies for boils. when it comes to the wisdom of invading iraq, you have expired,

all of you have. you had your time, you failed, it is over.failed. it is over. "first look" is up next. good morning. it's the first day of spring. right now on "first look", obama makes his inaugural visit. >> new information about the explosion that killed our marines when a mortar ground exploded. inside the sinister murder plot hatched by a central florida student. >> everybody stuck on a plane wanted to order a pizza. meet the group that did. and what's that jumping out of the trunk of the car. president obama will arrive in israel has his first visit as commander in chief. it comes as peace plans remain

elusive. nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander joins us live from jerusalem. peter, good morning. >> good morning to you. a beautiful day here in jerusalem. you can see the historical city in the background behind us. the president is expected to be here a short time from now before you arrives in tel aviv. this trip is being billed as the unbreakable alliance. a former senior administration official told me it is more of an opportunity for a reset for the president in terms of his relationship with this country. america's strongest ally in the middle east you can expect to see a lot more symbolism than substance. consider this, 40% of israelis say they believe the president has a hostile view of israel. that's something the president and administration is hoping to patch up over the course of the next several days. there will be a series of meetings, including some time for the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. it will focus on the conflict in syria. also iran's pursuit of nuclear

weapons. there's expected to be very little progress made on the israeli/palestinian peace process. one of the first things the president will do when he gets here is inspect the iron dome battery system. as you can see right there. this is the defense shield that was so successful only in november of last year as israel was able to defend itself against incoming rocket fire from gaza. the u.s. spent $6 million over three years on the system. it is expected to reaffirm its commitment to israel and the iron dome program. >> thanks so much for that. the pentagon is launching an investigation into the safety of tars following an explosion monday night on a base in nevada. this morning the military confirms eight marines have died and six injured. >> reporter: this evening veterans and civilians alike

joined together at a memorial service to honor the soldiers lost and those wounded in an explosion during a training exercise on monday at the hawthorne army depot in november. >> it's strange you go overseas to fight and you come back home and get killed. the soldiers were taking part in mountain warfare training at the hawthorne army depot. a mortar round exploded in a mortar tube. >> we don't know what caused this malfunction. >> reporter: typically a 60 millimeter mortar is manned by one or two people. the fact that you had so many casualties would indicate there were other gun crews and trainees nearby. >> the service members involved in the training accident belonged to camp le jeune. >> where that occurs in

afghanistan, camp le jeune, north carolina or anywhere else, it's not -- every tragedy, every loss is a tragedy. >> proudly, we remember their service. >> a tragic loss of soldiers who trained to sacrifice. that sacrifice now honored in nevada and nationwide. did senator harry reid cave on new gun control legislation? the ban on assault weapons is being dropped from a bill being considered next month. dianne feinstein fought hard to keep the revision but promises to block the full package prevailed. senators will take up increasing penalties. the ban will be offered as a separate amendment but is expected to fail when it comes up after the easter recess. disturbing but details about the close call at the university of central florida. police released this video of officers responding to a 911

call about a student with a gun. it came after a false fire alarm tripped by the suspect in an attempt to lure students outside so they could be easy targets. the emergency call came from a roommate that said james pulled a gun on him. >> like a gun, like large assault gun. i don't know if it's a real gun. i don't know what it is, but i just saw it, slammed my door shut and locked it. >> they found the would-be shooter dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound. two webs were nearby. >> running against 15 other candidates, sanford got less than 15% of the vote, the gop vote for the seat vacated by tim scott when he moved to the u.s. senate. in the democratic primary, elizabeth colbert-bush won the

nomination with 96% of the vote. here's your first morning's dish of scrambled politics. republican senator rand paul talked about immigration reform to hispanic business leaders saying immigrants are an asset to america, but he didn't get very specific about his solutions. >> i think the conversation needs to start by acknowledging that we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants. if you wish to live and work in america, then we will find a place for you. >> when the senate votes on the democratic budget resolution this week, there may be a number of amendments voted on. vote a rama may include democratic amendments on the environment or republicans trying to substitute the house budget plan. >> and cool under pressure tuesday during his state of the city address when a man rushed onto the stage, threw down a

flag and started yelling. security wrestled him to the ground. the mayor said it happened so fast he didn't have time to be scared. >> and the trip to israel has released this official trailer. let's take a look. >> we welcome president obama to israel. >> the bonds between the united states and israel are unbreakable. and the commitment of the united states to the security of israel is iron clad. ♪ thank you for being a friend

>> and that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >> wow. >> i'm kind of at a loss for words. anything that uses the golden girl theme side has to be good. >> is it serious? is it mock something being sarcastic. >> making light of it. >> don't look too much into it then? >> exactly. bill karins is with us. do you have good news on the first day of spring. >> it's spring! that's the bottom line. in new england yesterday heavy snow, especially northern portions of massachusetts, outside the boston area. picked up easily 6 to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow. we will try to melt it as fast as we can. really this cold weather pattern to end march, amount of snow will stick around the next week. that storm is finally exiting up into the canadian maritime. still snowing a little bit in maine. the cold air is moving behind the storm. lakes still warm around the

great lakes. we have numerous bands of lake effect storms. erie and buffalo by far the worst of it. the windchill this morning, definitely the hat and gloves and winter coats. don't put them away yet. probably not until april. windchills in the 20s, teens and big cities. northern plains, windchills in the negative numbers. chicago, a windchill of 9. bitterly cold air continues. more chances of snow. the next coming down from the rockies. i think the next shot of snow will be the central plains areas of missouri and northern arkansas could see snow in the days ahead. possibly a storm for the east coast monday of next week time frame. we're not done yet with winter. >> i'm done with you, bill. still waiting for the march lamb to show up any day. these drinks kill 25,000 americans each year. well tell you which ones. eye on the sky. if an asteroid is coming to

earth, our only hope may be to pray >> congress is holding hearings later on drones in america related to privacy. "first look" is back in three. [ male announcer ] this one goes out to all the allergy muddlers. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word... if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts... well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one

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welcome back. here are stories making news this morning. the senate judiciary holds hearings on drones. they will address growing privacy concerns of the use of unmanned aircraft. the head of nasa has advice for you worried about things from space. meteors like the one last month in russia are not uncommon and there's nothing we can to to stop them. >> if you detected even a small one like the one that detonated in russia, headed for new york city in three weeks, what would we do? >> the answer to you if it's coming in three weeks, pray. >> that's hardly comfortable. the pentagon will greatly impact

u.s. efforts. the supreme court will release same-day audio over two same-sex marriage cases. they downtown same thing during south carolina and the case in 2000. t.j. lane, the teen who shot teens at an ohio high school was sentenced to three life times. he wore a t-shirt with the world killer on it during the hearing. passengers on a diverted flight from boston to atlanta got a special delivery last night. 30 pizzas were delivered to the hungry passengers as they sat on the tarmac in knoxville, tennessee. beats peanut. michael bloomberg may be on to something when it comes to the debay over sugary drinks.

worldwide, 180,000 obesity-related deaths are linked to sugary drinks. diabetes, cardiovascular december and cancer. cyprus investors looking to the fed for answers. ben bernanke is expected to announce monetary policy unchanged. protests in a rejected bank depositor bailout failed. >> fedex, general miller and lennar will all report before the bell. adobe systems shot up in after hours trading thanks to better than expected quarterly results. and kevin lynch has jumped ship to join apple at vp of technology. federal regulators are investigating microsoft kickbacks that allegedly bribed

foreign officials in return for software contracts. microsoft said it is committed to the highest ethical standards. histories a head scratcher. neiman marcus two others agreed to settle complaints they marketed real fur clothing as fake. yahoo! in talks to buy a stake in daily motion in a $300 million deal. speaking of video, a new study by motor hola mobility claims 41% of the content recorded on u.s. dvrs is never watched and deleted. i'm guilty of that >> a robot for three bucks at a garage sale turned out to be a 1,000-year-old artifact from the tsong dynasty. dick vitale goes head to head with a dolphin on bracketology. why was this deer in the back of a car?

you're watching first look on msnbc. [ mom ] 3 days into school break and they're already bored.

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i'm here in your home, having a pretty spectacular tuesday. ♪ but i don't notice the loose rug at the top of your stairs. and that's about to become an issue for me. ♪ and if you got the wrong home insurance coverage, my medical bills could get expensive. so get allstate. [ dennis ] good hands. good home. make sure you have the right home protection. talk to an allstate agent. turning back now to some of our top political stories. joining me is tim mack for politico. thanks for being here this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> let's start with drones in american airspace. what specific privacy concerns will senators be looking into? there's a lot of concern especially coming off rand paul's filibuster on the use of

drones, on the use of whether they can be used to look into people's back yards, what kind of invasion of privacy that might entail. we're not just talking about the strike capability which received a lot of attention but whether or not drones can be used for regular domestic surveillance. >> and there are reports friday the defense department will start sending furlough notices to civilian employees thanks to sequester cuts. how would this affect the pentag pentagon. >> they are exempt from furloughs to due to sequestration. but uniformed officers and uniformed members of the pentagon are working very closely to their civil crayon counterparts. so thursday they will send out notices to a lot of the civilians at the dod.

in about a week, however, all the appeals will have been exhausted and we will have a good picture of how many furloughs are out there and how long and when these furloughs will be. >> all right. we will be keeping an eye on all of it. thank you for joining us. >> now here's some sorry stories going on around america. we start in pennsylvania where investigators are trying to figure out the cause of a deadly house explosion that killed one and injured two others. two of the three children that lived at that house were at school. the other was treated at the scene. emergency crews were initially called to the scene for a possible meth lab explosion. lady liberty closed after hurricane sandy took its toll last october damaging fairy docks and the island's electrical system. a deer took police by surprise when it stumbled out of the trunk of a car and sprinted into nearby woods. the driver said he thought he killed the deer when it hit his

car. in anchorage a polar bear cub delivered to the zoo after his mother was killed by hunters. the adorable cub was taken to the zoo for observation where he will stay until it's decided where to send him long term. a sweet scene from san diego where a baby panda got to play in the snow for the very first time. the made their own snow in the city of san diego. cute baby overload. well, in sports, march madness is here. and the first game of the ncaa tournament, north carolina have the lead. a comeback by liberty ended as they missed the last shot. aggies got their first win, 73-72 and advanced to play louisville in the second round. st. mary's opened up a 13-point lead in the second half and beat middle tennessee to advance to

play memphis. brooklyn playing james madison. and boise state versus lasalle. the second round starts thursday. a big upset. defending national champion kentucky missed a shot as time ran out and robert morris won 59-57. at the world baseball classic, the dominican republic went to to defeat puerto rico. the u.s. open tennis tournament would get a lot more money if they win again. by 2017 the total prize money will reach 50 million bucks. 30 million this year with equal paychecks for men and women. and dick vitale, famous for his, yeah, baby, took his talents to the georgia aquarium to fill out brackets with a dolphin. the dolphins picked san diego state as the ultimate winner.

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vice president joe biden attended pope francis's first mass. have you seen this picture? >> yes. >> this is unbelievable. this is a picture of him in the crowd. see if you can find biden. >> are you kidding me? this is a real photo. focused up. >> that's biden's face when he